Jamal Murray meets Denver coach Mike Malone's challenge in Nuggets' Game 5 win over Spurs
Wednesday 24 April 2019 10:44, UK
Nuggets coach Mike Malone says that Jamal Murray met the challenge he set for him in Denver's Game 5 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Murray scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting as the Nuggets rolled to a 108-90 home victory that gave them a 3-2 series lead and preserved their home-court advantage in the first-round series.
He connected on four of his nine three-pointers, handed out seven assists and filled out the stat sheet with four rebounds, two steals and a block.
After the game, Nuggets coach Malone revealed he had set his young point guard a challenge for Game 5.
"I challenged Jamal Murray today. I said, 'your greatest challenge as a young player is to be consistent. In two wins you've been great, in two losses you haven't'.
"I thought Jamal was terrific tonight. I love when Jamal plays with emotion, that's when those guys play their best. I've seen example after example [of that] in this series."
Murray echoed his coach's words. "I'm just playing focused," he said. "I'm focused on being consistent. That's my challenge, being consistent in every game and put the ball in the hoop, doing what I do best and playing with that fire."
Malone felt Murray's performance embodied a much-improved performance by his team on their home court. In their previous game at the Pepsi Center they were beaten 118-108 by the Spurs.
"Answering the bell after a very disappointing effort in Game 3 and then knowing that [the Spurs] would come in here tonight and try to steal [a win] and take that homecourt advantage back, we did not relent," Malone added. "We stayed with it."
The next test of Murray's consistency will come in Game 6 in San Antonio in the early hours of Friday morning (1am). The Nuggets guard is looking forward to that test.
"The challenge is to do it in the next game in a hostile environment against a team that are playing for their lives," he said. "I'm looking forward to being focused again."
Watch Nuggets @ Spurs Game 6 live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Friday morning (1am).
